Philadelphia Eagles vs San Francisco 49ers Prediction: 49ers to shock the Eagles

There are still four teams competing for a spot in the Super Bowl, and the battle for the National Football Conference championship will begin on championship Sunday with the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field. Philly had the top seed in their conference during the regular season, and they won their Divisional Round match against the New York Giants 38-7. On the other hand, San Francisco was the number two seed in the NFC, and they won their match against the Dallas Cowboys 19-12 on the previous Sunday.

The Eagles demonstrated why they were the best team for the majority of the season by dominating the Giants from the beginning of the game to the end of it last Saturday, earning their spot in the conference championship game for the first time since 2017 for the Philadelphia franchise. This team's ability to move the ball efficiently and consistently on the ground was a big part of why they were such a force throughout the regular season. They ranked third in the NFL for rushing attempts, which shows how often they tried to run the ball. The previous week, when they played New York, they passed the ball 44 times and racked up 268 yards. This put them in a number of third-down situations that they were able to handle, and they went 10 for 14 in this area. It has been crucial to their success throughout the season for them to get out to an early lead. The Eagles have had trouble stopping the run all season, allowing 4.6 yards per carry. This is something they do not have to worry about if they can get ahead early and force the Niners to throw the ball instead of running the ball. Because the Eagles have a strong pass rush and were ranked second in pressure rating (33.3%) during the regular season with a blitz percentage of 27.2%, it would certainly play into their favor if their opponents were forced to throw the ball more frequently. Even if they are unable to get pressure on the quarterback, the Philadelphia Eagles have a dependable group of cover men that do not allow you much. This season, Philadelphia has given up the third-lowest passer rating in the NFL, at 81.6. They also have the fourth-most interceptions, with 17, and have held opposing tight ends to the fifth-lowest rating in the league.

After suffering a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams in the conference championship game the previous year, the San Francisco 49ers entered the 2022 season looking for a chance at redemption. This coming Sunday, when they compete for the NFC championship for the third time in the last four years, is their opportunity to try to right those wrongs that have been done to them. The team coached by Kyle Shanahan did not have the same offensive dominance as the previous weekend, scoring fewer than 20 points for the first time since late November. However, their defense stepped up, picking off Dak Prescott twice while limiting the Cowboys to fewer than 300 total yards of offense. When you come into this game riding a 12-game winning streak, it is a sign that there are a lot of things working well for San Francisco. One of those things would be their ability to plug the running lanes, as they allowed a league-low 3.3 yards per carry to running backs in 2022 and have held opposing teams to under 20 points on 14 different occasions, including the playoffs. San Francisco is currently riding a 12-game winning streak heading into this game. The San Francisco 49ers, like the Philadelphia Eagles, prefer to run the ball more frequently on offense. They are now ranked ninth in rushing attempts and 26th in passing attempts, and they failed to throw a touchdown pass for only the third time all season in their most recent game. The reliability of San Francisco's aerial attack may be considered fairly good, as seen by the fact that they had the second-highest rating through the air in 2022 (102.3) and they had the fifth-highest yards per catch ratio (12). Since the 49ers' victory over the Falcons in the Georgia Dome in January 2013, which was an away game for the league title, they have not been victorious on the road in a conference championship game.

Due to the fact that these are two teams that are equally suited in every manner, we should see a close contest from the beginning to the end. On the other hand, given the current level of play that the 49ers are riding, in addition to their overall expertise playing in games of this magnitude, we are going to give them a little edge on Sunday.